Prevent identity theft this holiday shopping season

ALBANY >> No one is immune to identity theft. Not even a police chief.

During a press conference on Wednesday, which focused on preventing identity theft and detecting counterfeit bills this holiday shopping season, Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider said he has been the victim of identity theft twice. In the first incident, which took place in the 1980s, someone got his banking account number from a check while the more recent episode was due to an issue with a credit card.

“About 10 million people each year fall victim to identity theft,” said Heider.

One of the tips given on Wednesday was not using one’s home mailbox to mail bill payments. Instead, homeowners were encouraged to bring pieces of mail with checks in them to either a nearby large mailbox or directly to a post office.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares said that, with the holiday shopping season attracting more people to the malls, fellow shoppers and retailers need to be more vigilant.

“We don’t want to see retailers hurt nor see the counterfeit money passed on,” said Soares. “These bad guys come to the area to try to take advantage of our robust economy.”

Soares says his office handles “hundreds of thousands of dollars” worth of counterfeit money cases, usually in partnership with the Albany bureau of the U.S. Secret Service.

The Secret Service was initially established to investigate counterfeit cases. The agency was founded in the 1860s when about one-third of the circulated currency was counterfeit. The bill was signed by Abraham Lincoln on the same day he was assassinated, said William Leege, resident agent in charge with the Secret Service in Albany.

He described that when he first joined the agency, counterfeit production was “more of an art form;” now, counterfeit bills are easier to print and produce.

In most cases today, the counterfeiter will use the fake money to buy high-end electronics, which will then be returned for real currency.

Soares said that retailers should take note of odd behavior like using a $20 or $50 bill to purchase a pack of gum, which is another way counterfeit crooks have laundered their money. He also said that if a bill’s texture feels strange or doesn’t look real, the clerk should take note of the appearance of the person using the money and then notify the store supervisor or manager.

Another tip was to use online banking to track your use of funds frequently and to be aware of machines called skimmers that collect credit card information. Such a device was used at a cafe in Glenmont and the employee at the establishment was selling people’s credit card information. It’s a good idea, Soares said, to preferrably use a card only if you see the card swiped in front of you.

With popular malls in Guilderland and Colonie, police chiefs from both communities were at the press conference in Albany.

“This is the time that these malls see the most activity and people want to come to exploit these shoppers,” said Soares. Despite ongoing investigations into counterfeit money, he said one of the area’s largest cases this year was from a traffic stop.

U.S. currency has synthetic strips, watermarks and other features that can be tested. The complete list is at knowyourmoney.gov

Leege said that less than 5 percent of the total circulated money in the U.S. currently is counterfeit.